This invention relates, in general, to hinges and, in particular, to hinges for the deployment of structures used in space vehicles, as for example, in geostationary communications platforms, in photovoltaic power modules, and in large diameter antennas.
The need for hinges for space vehicle use has long been recognized. Individual structure members of a truss type are frequently hinged together and folded to achieve efficient volumetric packaging for launch and for later deployment in space and typical examples of such use in prior art are shown in the U.S. Pat. Nos. to Wuenscher 3,520,496, to Madey 3,540,676, to Webb 3,466,085 and others. The Patent to Wuenscher and Madey additionally show a locking means for locking the deployable structures in their deployed position after launch.
Notwithstanding the foregoing, there still exists a need for a hinge having built-in deployment power, positive locking in the deployed (fully open) position, redundancy in the lock for safety purposes, the absence of slack in the deployed hinge, torsional stability, structural capability equal to the strut it is attached to, receptiveness to future robotics manipulation, light weight, low cost in quantity production and, an all purpose standard design, and it therefore is a primary object of this invention to fulfill the foregoing need.